Lankan officers cut short their Wellington defence course

Chaminda Perera

Two officers of the Sri Lanka Security Forces who were following the Defence Services Staff Course (DSSC) in Wellington in India returned to the country prematurely as they were transferred to a another course due to security concerns. These officers returned to the country yesterday.

According to military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya, India offered them the Higher Defence Management Course (HDMC) in the College of Defence Management in Secundrabad instead of the DSSC course which is conducted at Wellignton, due to security concerns.

Wanigasuriya said the Higher Defence Management Course is normally followed by senior officers in the rank of Colonel and it is a higher course in scope.

The military spokesman added that the Sri Lanka government made a request to withdraw the two officers from DSSC course as the HDMC is not in line with the initial purpose of sending these two officers for training in India.

“This course is not relevant to the majors”, he said. Wanigasuriya reiterated that this withdrawal does not in any way hamper the close relations between the Armed Forces of both countries. “The Sri Lankan authorities declined this offer for these officers as it was observed that the HDMC was not in line with the initial purpose of sending these two officer for training in India”, he said.

Wanigasuriya added that the Defence authorities will find a training facility elsewhere for the Sri Lankan military officers to obtainthis training.

Brig. Wanigasuriya added that the Indian Armed Forces have played a key role in the professional career development of Sri Lankan Security Forces for over four decades.

“This partnership between the Security Forces of both countries has seen a massive improvement during the recent past though there have been difficulties in training Sri Lankan military personnel in some training facilities in India”, he said